Why?
by afanoflife
Summary: A young girl questions why Uther hates magic.  A woman who was there through it all gives her an answer.


**The weather where I'm at is going crazy. We had a snow day yesterday and it was in the 30s. Now the snow is completely gone and it was in the upper 50s today.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Merlin._**

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><p>The small house only had one room. There was a fireplace, a small table, and a pallet in the corner of the room that served as a bed. Sitting in front of the fire, an old woman rocked the little girl in her arms. The little girl had tears running down her face. Small sobs occasionally escaped from her mouth.<p>

Hazel gazed down at her young grandchild, a look of sadness crossing her face. She made hushing noises as she continued to rock the child back and forth, attempting to calm the girl down. No matter how hard she tried though, the girl would not be calmed.

When the girl had finally exhausted herself, she went quiet. Silent tears continued to flow, but she no longer let out any sobs. In a small voice, the young girl asked, "Grandma, what happened to Mommy and Daddy? Why haven't they come home yet? They're always home by now."

Hazel did not answer right away. Part of her wanted to keep the child in the dark about what happened. She had several lies that she could tell the girl, but she decided to tell none of them. The girl deserved to know the truth.

"Ira, did you ever see your parents do things that were…different? Did you ever see them do things that many people would consider impossible?" Hazel asked.

The little thought for a little while and then slowly nodded her head. "There were times when I saw them move things around…without touching anything, but not often."

Hazel nodded her head. "Your parents both had a very special gift, a special gift known as magic."

"What does this have to do with what happened to Mommy and Daddy?" Ira asked.

Hazel gathered her thoughts before answering. "Many people consider magic to be evil and corrupting, not something that is special and wonderful. Here in Camelot, it's against the law to use magic. When the king found out that your parents were practicing it, he had them…" Hazel let her voice trail off. She didn't know how to tell her grandchild the next part.

"What did the king do to them, Grandma?" Ira asked.

Taking a deep breath, Hazel said in a quiet voice, "He had them killed."

Ira's eyes went wide. Fresh tears began flowing down her face as she took in what Hazel had just said. "I don't understand, Grandma. Why does the king think magic is so bad? Why did he have my parents killed?"

"That, my child, is a very long story. Tell me, did your parents ever tell you what I did when I was younger?" Hazel questioned. Ira shook her head.

"When I was younger, I worked as a midwife up at the castle. I helped deliver the children of the nobles. At the time, Camelot was a very different place. The kingdom was full of magic users. There were even dragons still around."

A small gasp escaped the mouth of the young girl. "Did you ever see one?"

"I saw one once. It was flying way off in the distance. Anyway, more than twenty years ago, King Uther married his wife, Igraine. More than anything else in the world, the king and queen wanted to have a child, but they were unable to do so. I and the court physician, Gaius, were asked on many occasions if anything could be done. However, neither of us could come up with a solution."

"Then where did the prince come from? He's the king's son, isn't he?" Ira asked.

"Yes he is. You'll find out the answer to your question soon enough. The king and queen became desperate, so they brought a lady named Nimueh to the castle. She was a priestess of the Old Religion, someone that had very powerful magic. King Uther asked her for help in conceiving an heir, and the priestess agreed to help."

"The king asked for help from a sorceress?" Ira asked.

"He did. At the time, the king had no issues with magic. With Nimueh's help, the queen was able to conceive a child. When Camelot found out, the whole kingdom was excited. The birth of a royal child is a very special thing." Hazel paused in her story telling. Memories came flooding back to her. A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered the celebrations that went on throughout the kingdom.

"Igraine had no complications during the pregnancy. She remained strong and healthy. When it came time to deliver the child, it was very late at night. I was sleeping in my room, when a guard knocked on my door, asking for me to come and help with the delivery. When I arrived in the queen's chambers, Gaius was already there. Together, we did our best to help the queen through the birth. It took many hours, but the prince was eventually born." A look of sadness appeared on Hazel's face.

"Why are you sad, Grandma?" Ira asked.

Hazel took a deep breath and replied, "Something went wrong during the prince's birth. The queen wasn't doing well. I could tell when I handed the newborn prince to his mother that she wasn't going to be around much longer. I could tell that Gaius thought the same as me. We called in the king to see his son. When he came in, the queen spoke softly, saying 'Name him Arthur.' With those words, the queen died.

"Uther's grief was like none I had ever seen before. He had loved his wife more than anything in the world, and she had just been taken from him. With his grief came extreme anger. He lashed out at what he considered to be the cause of his wife's death: magic.

"That anger is what led to the Great Purge. The king made it his goal in life to purge the kingdom of magic and anything connected with it. He had the dragons and the dragonlords hunted down and killed off one by one. Anyone found practicing magic or consorting with a sorcerer was immediately killed.

"The anger the king felt towards magic users has not lessened any over the years. If any, it has grown stronger. Many magic users are angry with the king because of his persecution of magic and want to kill him. With each magical attack against him and his son, his anger grows."

"So the king is trying to get revenge on magic? That's why he had my parents killed?" Ira asked. Hazel nodded her head. She watched as an angry look came over her granddaughter's face. "Then I hate him for it."

"Ira, hate is such a strong word. Did you learn nothing from my story? Hatred and anger is what started this whole issue. What was done to your parents isn't fair, but it happened. You need to learn to move on."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive the king as long as I live," Ira stated.

"I'm not saying you have to forgive him. Forgiveness is not always easy to give. What you need to do is keep the memories of your parents alive and try not to let your anger get in the way. It will be hard, believe me. I'm going through the same emotions you are at the moment. But together we will be able to move on."

"Do you think magic will ever be allowed again?" Ira asked quietly.

Hazel did not have an answer to the question. All she could do was hope that the prince would not share the same views as his father when he became king.

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><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed this. I really enjoyed writing it. Please tell me what you thought of this!<strong>


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